It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity


There's something out of the ordinary about a monsoon. It's the deluge that seems to go on and on.

Enviro-Can reports that the east side of this island has recorded 140 to 160 mm. so far and I'm pretty sure I heard every one of them last night. More to come for the next several hours. It's an 'atmospheric river' so they say. The dog sure isn't impressed.

In The Guardian this morning there's a report that rising humidity could be linked to increased rates of suicide.  

Women and young people were particularly affected by levels of humidity, the intensity and frequency of which are increasing because of global heating.

Based on data from 60 countries between 1979 and 2016, the University of Sussex study found that periods of intense humidity were more strongly linked to suicide than high temperatures.

Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, who co-authored the research, said humidity interfered with the body’s ability to regulate its temperature and that this increased discomfort could exacerbate conditions for people already struggling with mental illnesses.

“If you talk about mental health there are quite a lot of links – there’s anxiety, it’s hard to sleep, it becomes unbearable,” she said. “Sleep deprivation is a massive thing … It’s difficult to sleep when it’s hot and even more when it’s humid.”

In this, the Anthropocene, it's just one damn thing after another.


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